Recent weeks have given us a sobering reminder of the dreadful impact of child sexual exploitation. The further revelations regarding Rotherham coupled with the announcements of new investigations in Manchester, Halifax and Essex, reinforce the belief that we are only beginning to scratch the surface of this emerging national blight.

You cannot babysit your own kids, what you are doing is being a responsible adult or parent and looking after the produce of your (probably) misguided fumblings (anyone who claims this clearly has no wish to be a dad so it must have been a mistake, am I right?).

Mid-January, ten years ago, the colours and sunshine of my first day in San Miguel had me pinned. A week later, I met the person who was to become my husband. Today, we are raising three young children.

Here are my tales from the front line. The rookie mistakes I made in my first five years of parenting. Of course, I only made them with my first son because when the second came along I knew exactly what I was doing. Can you smell smoke?!

I was aware that the language was old fashioned, and in some cases offensive, but it never got in the way of my love of the books or the stories they told because (like most children) I cared more about characters than grammar.

It has recently become apparent to me that little sorcerers have infiltrated the Walker Camp. Disguised as our offspring too, would you believe! I am in increasing awe - or is it fear?! - of their ability to apply mastery and cunning in a plethora of situations.

So why, when most live nearby and those who don't could catch the bus, do parents insist on clogging up the already busy roads, and disrupting other people's time starved lives, just so their little bag of snot bundle of joy doesn't have to walk?

The best source of help for children in these situations is usually their parents. Whether your child is being bullied or bullying others, it's important to know what's going on in their lives you so can help address the issue and any potentially larger problems behind it.

For both men and women to truly 'have it all' we need flexibility in the way we work so that we can take better care of our own needs and those of our children. This is vital not only to help prevent burnout of the workforce but also to prevent the burnout of our children.

Milestones are there as a guideline as to what your child should be doing, but can be a bit misleading too as we are told 'every child is individual' and 'they'll get there in their own time' still we can't help but panic and wonder about the 'unknown' or 'what if'.

Many a meal and tantrum later we together came to a conclusion that will come as no surprise to most parents. As one fed-up family put it: "these restaurants would go out of business if they treated their grown-up guests the same."

Protecting children from harm is an obligation both on parents and families and wider society. Protecting children from passive smoking in cars was up for debate today in Parliament. Liberal Democrats have been at the fore in arguing the case for banning smoking in cars and today Parliament voted to implement the new Smokefree (private vehicles) regulations 2015...

The Syrian conflict has so far already forced more than five million children to live through terrible experiences. Building on local capacities, UNICEF and its partners are providing crucial psychosocial support for children to help them overcome such traumatic experiences.

'From a Mother to Another' is a new campaign that helps parents play a small part in creating a better future for their children. It makes it easy for parents to donate high quality unwanted baby and children's clothing to families in the UK who are most in need.

Telling the children is the part that many parents fear the most. The last thing that they want to do is hurt their children and it's a really difficult conversation to have as the consequences are life changing for the whole family. However there are some guidelines that will make it a little easier if you follow them.

Before I had children, I never really knew what to buy children. I'm still not sure I know now, unless it is for my own offspring. What I do know is what not to buy them. So here is my top three gifts never to get a kid. Never. Ever.

Women not having children historically bothers authority. And while they may do so for myriad reasons today, as more and more women follow suit and cite the environment as the cause, it will be interesting to see what happens: whether politicians, apparently deaf to the marches, petitions and scientists, will listen to prospect of our hollow wombs.

Children need parents to act like parents by setting boundaries and telling them whenever they are behaving badly. While you may mistakenly think that your child will become your friend and thank you in years to come for your weak boundaries and disclipline, they will not.

Choice is what should be promoted, not exclusively breastfeeding. I am absolutely sick to the gills of health professionals and the NHS and antenatal/postnatal professionals, and worst culprits of all, fellow mothers, constantly banging on about how important it is to breastfeed.